Feed-water regulator.



I. McCORIVHCK, H. A. SIMPSON & B. H. HILL FEED WATER REGULATOR.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC.29,1914.

Patented May 30,1916.

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J IVlcCORIVIlCK, H. A. SIMPSON & B. H. HILL.

FEED WATER REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.29,1914.

Patented May 30,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- WITNESSES JOHN MCCORMICK AND HUG-H ALSIIVIPSON, OFWILMERDING, AND BUCHANAN HOUS TON HILL, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNORS TO STEAM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FEED-WATER REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May so, rare.

Application filed December 29, 1914. Serial No. 879,615.

One object of the invention is to provide a feed water regulator whichcan be readily adapted to any boiler and which is adjustable toaccommodate different arrangements 'or locations of the feed watersupply pipe. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a feed water regulator inwhich the operating connections to the regulating valve are so arrangedas to prevent strain upon the parts under abnormal conditions,

as when the temperature of the water in the expansion tube gets verylow.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feed water regulatorin which the feed valve will not stick or vary as to the frictionalresistance on its seat, and one whereby a gradual and uniform supply ofwater to the boiler is secured, which does away with a variable orlumpy-feed and consequently produces a uniform steaming capacity. 1 I

A further object of the invention is to rovide a feed water regulatorwhich can e readily attached to any style of boiler and does not requirespecial fitting thereto.

In the drawings, which represent one embodiment of the invention, Figure1 is an elevation of the regulating device applied to a boiler; Figs. 2and 3 are detail views, showing modified arrangements of the connectionsto the regulating valve; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of oneform of regulating valve; Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the valve,on the line 5-5, Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a detail view of the ports in thevalve and seat; Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view showing the valveoperating lever and its stops; Figs. 8 and9 are enlarged detail views ofa water head; Fig. 10 is a similar view of a support; and Fig. 11 is adetail view of the valve operating lever.

Referring to the drawin s, 1 represents a water column or other suitableportion of the steam boiler which is to be supplied with water. 7

2 is the. water supply pipe coming from any sultable source of supplyand leading to the water space in the boiler. In this supply pipe 1s aby-pass 3 having the feed water regulating valve 4 therein. Handregulating .valves 5 and 6 control the flow of water through the mainconduit and bypass respectively. The boiler can obviously be of anytype.

The thermostatic regulating device comprises an expansion tube 7 of somemetal having a high co-efiicient of expansion, whlch expansion tube atone end is secured to the stationary water head 8 and at its oppositeend to the movable head 9. The movable head 9 has a pipe connection 10to the water column 1 or other suitable portion of the boiler at a pointabove the highest water level to be maintained in the boiler, While thestationary head 8 has a pipe connection 11 to a pipe 12 leading to thewaste space or other suitable part of the boiler so that the expansiontube crosses the water line. It is obvious that-since one end of theexpansion tube is connected to the steam space and the other to thewater space 1n the boiler said tube will be filled by conduction of itsheat to the outside air and the constant effect of thesteam therein willcause the tube to expand or contract more or less depending uponthe-water level in the boiler and the relative amounts of steam andwater in the tube. The expansion and contraction of thetube-automatically operate the water supply valve, as more fullyhereinafter described.

Stationary water head 8 is preferably so arranged aS to be readilyapplicable to an ordinary boiler without special fitting. It also formsa support for one of the lever connections for operating the supplyvalve and is so arranged as to enable said lever to be. reversedtherein. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, this stationary head is a solidshank or member having a cross bore 13 threaded at both ends toreceivethe pipes 7 and 11 for connecting the same. It also has athreaded aperture 14. for receiving an adjustable tension rod 15, whoseother end forms a fulcrum for an operating lever and prising a lateralextension 17 lying in a plane at an angle to the axis of the shank andextending inboth directions therefrom so that it may be used on eitherside of a boiler. The inclination of the shank to the plane of theextension 17 is such that when said extension is bolted to a horizontalflange or support carried by the boiler the expansion tube will have theproper inclination. The lower end of the water head has a lateralextension 8 which is bifurcated to form two arms 18 for supporting anoperating lever, as hereinafter described. The support 16 for thetension rod 15 comprises a sleeve portion 19 having a lateral extension20 provided with apertures for receiving bolts or rivets for attachingit to the boiler and which may be twisted slightly, as shown at 20 tofit a horizontal flange and still give the proper inclination to thesleeve 19. The connection between the expansion 7 tube 7 and the supplyvalve 4 is as follows:

The movable head 9 is pivotally connected at 21 to a working lever 22fulcrumed at 23 on the end of the tension rod 15. From the free end ofthe lever 22 a connecting non-extensible member, such as a chain, ca-

ble or wire 27, to the arm or lever 28 to which is connected a suitablecounterweight 29.

In order to adjust the mechanism while setting it for a given boiler theconnecting rod 24 may be adjustable in length, such as by means of theturn buckle 30, or the tension rod 15 may be adjustably connected to thefixed member to which.it is attached, such as by means of nuts 31 on theopposite sides of the stationary head 8, which permit said tension rodto be adjusted lengthwise. The supply valve 4 may be of any suitabletype, but is shown as a rotary valve, being actuated by. the arm 28. Thebody of this valve is provided with a partition 35 in which is a conicalvalve seat 36. provided with two or more openings therethrough, the

specific valve illustrated showing four such openings, two openings 37connecting with the space 38 on the supply side of the par- I tition 35'and the other two openings 39 communicating with a space 40 on thedischarge side ofsaid partition 35. Working on the conical valve seat isa hollow conical rotary valve or plug 41 provided with openings 42 and43 therethrough, corresponding in shape,

number and arrangement with the openings v 37 and 39 in the valve seat.The stem 44 of said rotary valve or plug extends out through the side ofthe casing and has keyed thereto the arm or lever 28, which can be setin dilierent positions for different arrangements of the valve, as shownin dotted lines, Fig. 11. The opposite side of the body of the valve isclosed by a removable cap 45 for the insertion and removal of the valveor plug. In order to minimize the friction of the valve on its seat andsecure smooth and eifective operation, suitable means is provided forcounteracting the back pressure of the water in the boiler. As shown,the valve casing is provided with two projecting rods or bars 46 havinga cross head 47 attached to the outer ends thereof and into which isthreaded a pressure screw 48 whose inner end contacts with the outer endof the valve stem. This pressure screw takes the thrust of the valvestem against its seat and secures smooth operation irrespective of thewater pressure. The bars46 also form stops for cooperation with sideshoulders 49 on the lever 28 to limit its movement in both directions.The valve casing is preferably provided with two sets of oppositelydisposed threaded holes 46 for receiving the rods 46 and which enablethe valve to be set in either vertical or hori- .zontal position, asmore fully hereinafter described.

The ports or openings in the valve are of such size that rotation of thevalve through an angle of 45 degrees completely opens and closes thepassage through the valve. They are also preferably constructed as shownin Fig. 6, to wit, with the end edges or walls of the seat ports 37 and39 inclined to each other to form V-shaped extensions 50 at the ends ofthe ports while the end edges of the valve ports are straight. Vhen thevalve is closed theopenings are out of register, but by rotating thelever 28 slightly the openings come into register, first as a smallpoint at the ends of the extensions 50 and then by an increasing amountso that first only a small amount of water passes through the valve,said amount increasing uniformly and gradually to'maximum supplyposition. The expansion of the tube 7 is of course slight, but thearrangement of the pivotal connections on the working lever 22 and therelative lengths of the arms of the bellcrank lever twice amplifies thisexpansion so that with a very small expansion a considerable movement ofthe valve is secured.

In order to adapt the regulator for various boilersin which the watersupply pipes are located at different positions, the bellcrank lever 25is reversible in its support, its pivot being removable for thispurpose. For example,-Fig. 2 shows an arrangement in which the feedwater supply valve is above instead of below the regulating de- Licencevice. In this case the bell-crank lever is attached to the stationaryhead with its short arm extending downwardly instead of upwardly, sothat expansion of the tube 7 lowers instead of lifts the long arm of thebell-crank lever. The bell-crank lever is attached to the valve handleby a chain or cable as before, but the counterweight 29 is placed on theopposite side of the valve stem. The regulating valve can also be placedin a horizontal portion of the water supply pipe, as shown in Fig. 3.

In setting the apparatus the chain or cable 27 is made of such lengththat the handle 28 contacts, with one of the bars 46 on the openingmovement of the valve only under extreme hot conditions, which nevervary for a given boiler. In other words, the maximum elongation of theexpansion tube 7 is fixed for each boiler, and the valve operating leverwill not contact with its stop until this point has been reached.Consequently, neither the operating mechanism nor the valve parts willbe subjected to strain by expansion of the tube. However, thecontraction of the tube is not fixed but depends upon externaltemperature conditions which vary with the season of the year.

For this purpose the valve is closed by a weight and is connected to theoperating mechanism by a flexible member, which permits the expansiontube to contract to any amount even to a point which would carry thelever 28 beyond its stop, without straining the parts of the operatingmechanism or of the valve.

lVith the arrangement described the feed water is supplied to the boilergradually so that sudden cooling of the water and boiler metal isavoided and the feed water supply is practically uniform and constant.It also enables the use of a type of valve which when open has the samearea as the feed pipe and the regulation of said valve is so exact andthe amplification of the tube expansion produces such a large valvetravel that even with the large valve the feed water is supplied inexact accordance with the rate of steam consumption, due to the abilityof the valve to supply any amount between zero and 100 per cent. Inoperation the valve is rarely if ever fully closed, but forms always asmall supply passage thercthrough, the size of which varies upon.

slight rising or falling of the water level in the boiler and tube.Furthermore, the valve is so arranged that the pressure on its seat isuniform and it will not stick so that failure of the valve to act isalmost entirely avoided.

\Vhat we claim is 1. In a feed water regulator, the combi-. nation of anexpansion device controlled by the water level, a valve operated by saidexpansion device and controlling the water supply, and connectionsbetween said device and valve for operating the latter, said connections including a pivoted two-armed lever, said lever beingreversible about an axis in itsplane of movement and adapted to beconnected to its pivot in two different positions, and be therebyadapted in said two positions to operate difl'erently located valves.

2. In a feed water regulator, the combination of an expansion devicecontrolled by the water level, a working lever connected to saidexpansion device and whose free end has a greater movement than saiddevice, a bell-crank lever having unequal arms the shorter of which isconnected to said working lever, a regulating valve, a positive stoplimiting closing movement of said valve, and a flexible connectionbetween the longer arm of said bell-crank lever and said valve.

3. In afeed water regulatorythe combination of an expansion devicecontrolled by the water level, a working lever connected tosaid'expansion device and whose free end has a greater movement thansaid device, a

bell-crank lever having unequal arms the shorter of which is connectedto said working lever, a regulating valve, a positive stop for limitingclosing movement of said valve, a flexible connection between the longerarm of said bell-crank lever and said valve, and a counterweightconnected to said valve.

4. In a feed water regulator embodying an expansion tube, a valve forcontrolling the water supply, operating devicesconnecting one end ofsaid tube to said valve, and a stationary water head comprising a memberhaving a cross aperture threaded at one end for connection to said tubeand at its opposite end for connection to the boiler, said member at oneend being provided with a lateral extension having a flat surface lyingin a plane at an angle to thelength of said water head and adapted forattachment to a horizontal support on said boiler.

5. In a feed water regulator. embodying an expansion tube, a valve forcontrolling the water supply and lever mechanism con- 'necting one endof said tube to said valve,

and a stationary water head comprising a member having a cross aperturethreaded at one end for connection to said tube and at its opposite endfor connection to the boiler, said member at-one end being provided withan extension projecting laterally in both directions and having a flatsurface lying in a plane at an angle to the length of said water headand adapted for attachment to a horizontal support on said boiler, theother end of said water head being provided with a bi furcated lateralextension forming two arms for supporting one of the levers of saidlever mechanism.

6. In a feed water regulator, the combination of an expansion devicecontrolled by the water level, a movable supply valve havdevice and saidarm, and a counterweight ing an operating arm,stops for limiting theconnected to said valve. movement of said arm in both directions, Intestimony whereof, we have hereunto and a flexible connection betweensaid eX- set our hands.

5 pansion device and Bald arm.

7. In %a feed water regulator, the combination 0 an expansion devicecontrolled by 1 the water level, a movable supply valve hav- BUCHANANHOUSTON HILL ing an operating arm, stops for limiting the Witnesses: 10movement of said arm in both directions, a ELBERT L. HY E,

flexible connection between said expansion GLENNH. Lmmxscrm.

